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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 8509 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 8509—Establishing the Missouri Wildlife Management Area

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Thursday, August 8, 1940
•
4 min read (706 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (706 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Subject to valid existing rights, jurisdiction over the lands, together with the improvements thereon, acquired by the United States within the following-described area, comprising 2,250 acres, more or less, in Boone County, Missouri, be, and it is hereby, transferred to the Department of the Interior, and the area is reserved as a refuge and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife and for research related thereto, under such conditions of use and administration as will best carry out the purposes of the land-conservation and land-utilization program for which such lands were acquired: Provided, however , That such lands shall remain available to the Curators of the University of Missouri, a corporation of the State of…

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Public Health & Medical Institutions

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 8, 1940, this order concerns Establishing the Missouri Wildlife Management Area. Subject to valid existing rights, jurisdiction over the lands, together with the improvements thereon, acquired by the United States within the following-described area, comprising 2,250 acres, more or less, in Boone County, Missouri, be, and it is hereby, transferred to the Department of the Interior, and the area is reserved as a refuge and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife and for research…

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Subject to valid existing rights, jurisdiction over the lands, together with the improvements thereon, acquired by the United States within the following-described area, comprising 2,250 acres, more or less, in Boone County, Missouri, be, and it is hereby, transferred to the Department of the Interior, and the area is reserved as a refuge and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife and for research related thereto, under such conditions of use and administration as will best carry out the purposes of the land-conservation and land-utilization program for which such lands were acquired: Provided, however , That such lands shall remain available to the Curators of the University of Missouri, a corporation of the State of…

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This reservation shall be known as the Missouri Wildlife Management Area.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
27 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
706
4,124 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.2
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

MISSOURI Whereas certain lands in the State of Missouri, together with the improvements thereon, have been acquired under the authority of Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 200), and the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935 (49 Stat. 115); and Whereas by Executive Order No. 7908 of June 9, 1938, all the right, title, and interest of the United States in such lands were transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition In accordance with the provisions of Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, approved July 22, 1937 (50 Stat. 522, 525), and the related provisions of Title IV thereof; and Whereas the Secretary of Agriculture has recommended that the reservation of such lands as a refuge and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife would be in the public interest: Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 32, Title III of the said Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, and as President of the United States, it is ordered that, subject to valid existing rights, jurisdiction over the lands, together with the improvements thereon, acquired by the United States within the following-described area, comprising 2,250 acres, more or less, in Boone County, Missouri, be, and it is hereby, transferred to the Department of the Interior, and the area is reserved as a refuge and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife and for research related thereto, under such conditions of use and administration as will best carry out the purposes of the land-conservation and land-utilization program for which such lands were acquired: Provided, however , That such lands shall remain available to the Curators of the University of Missouri, a corporation of the State of Missouri, for use and management through any of the colleges or departments of the University of Missouri, under the custody of the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior, for so long as there remains in force and effect a cooperative and license agreement between the United States of America and the Curators of the University of Missouri providing for such use and management: FIFTH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN T. 46 N., R. 11 W., sec. 17, NE¼, all that part of the NW¼ bounded by the following-described lines: Beginning at the center one-quarter corner of sec. 17; Thence westerly with the center line of said section to the one-quarter corner common to secs. 17 and 18; Thence with the line common to said sections, Northerly 906 feet; Thence in the NW¼, sec. 17, Easterly 420 feet; Northerly 414 feet; Easterly 1,824 feet; Northerly 550 feet; Easterly 396 feet to a point in the center line of sec. 17; Thence with the center line of said section, Southerly 1,870 feet to the place of beginning; and SW¼, N½NE¼SE¼, N½NW¼SE¼, and all that part of the S½NW¼SE¼ and SW¼SE¼ lying west of Conner Creek; sec. 18, lot 1, all that part of the NE¼SE¼ bounded by the following-described lines: Beginning at the one-quarter corner common to secs. 17 and 18; Thence with the line common to said sections, Southerly 1,345 feet; Thence S. 89°00' W., 350 feet; Thence in the NE¼SE¼, sec. 18, N. 0°25' W., 1,344 feet; N. 89°35' E., 350 feet to the place of beginning; and W½SE¼. and SE¼SE¼; sec. 19, lot 1, NE¼, E½SW¼, and SE¼; sec. 20, W½NE¼, except that part bounded by the following-described lines: Beginning at the center east one-sixteenth corner of sec. 20; Thence with the center line of said section, Westerly 483 feet; Thence northeasterly to a point in the east one-sixteenth line, 724 feet northerly of the center east one-sixteenth corner; Thence southerly 724 feet to the place of beginning; and W½; sec. 29, all that part of the W½NE¼ lying south and west of the public road, NW¼, and all that part of the NW¼SW¼ lying west of Cedar Creek; sec. 30, lots 1 and 2 of the NW¼, lot 1, and the N½ and E½S½ of lot 2 of the SW¼, NE¼, N½SE¼, and SW¼SE¼. This reservation shall be known as the Missouri Wildlife Management Area. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, August 8, 1940.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 8509 (Aug. 8, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8509-establishing-the-missouri-wildlife-management-area.